Choosing the right platform for creating and selling online courses is critical to your success as a creator or educator. Thinkific, Teachable, and Kajabi are three of the most popular platforms, each with its strengths and unique offerings. But how do they stack up in 2025?
In this in-depth comparison, we’ll evaluate each platform based on the following aspects:
We’ll also look into Learnyst, an India-based platform that’s rapidly emerging as a top alternative for educators looking to launch branded, secure academies online.
With strong support for multimedia content such as PDFs, tests, assignments, and surveys, Thinkific offers a drag-and-drop course builder. With drip schedules and prerequisite lessons, it works particularly well for structured curricula.
Strengths: Flexible curriculum setup, quizzes, and multimedia-friendly.
Limitations: No native support for live classes — needs Zoom or third-party integration.
Did you know?
Learnyst, in contrast to Thinkific, enables the creation of native tests with DRM video protection, ensuring that your videos and quizzes are safe from piracy, which is a major concern for instructors of competitive exams.
A more straightforward and efficient course builder is provided by Teachable. It excels in usability, enabling even non-technical users to start courses fast. Additionally, the platform allows users to upload videos and take simple quizzes.
Strengths: Beginner-friendly UI, built-in video hosting, easy setup.
Limitations: Limited design customization, no native assignments.
Beyond just courses, Kajabi offers a full suite of business tools. Although the course builder is strong, its true power is in how well it integrates with digital products, websites, funnels, and email campaigns.
Strengths: All-in-one business suite, strong automation, beautiful design.
Limitations: Can be overwhelming for new creators, expensive.
In contrast, For test-prep creators, Learnyst provides a more compact yet robust course builder that includes gamified quizzes, streak tracking, and a leaderboard to increase student engagement.
Thinkific provides a variety of customizable themes along with free SSL and hosting. Although you can customize your website, more sophisticated branding control necessitates more expensive plans or coding.
Teachable provides you with a one-page website structure that is suitable for simple purposes. However, only premium plans offer full white-labeling, and branding is restricted.
With its fully functional site-building tools and expertly created templates, Kajabi stands out. It enables you to create landing pages, blogs, and multi-page websites without the need for extra tools.
Learnyst, offers, in contrast, a white-labeled academy that is ready to use, branded with your logo and color scheme, and mobile app branding is an option. No coding is needed.
Thinkific offers very few marketing tools unless you integrate with other platforms. Neither a sales funnel builder nor native email marketing are available.
Upsells and order bumps are two recent marketing features that Teachable has added, but external tools are still required for full automation.
The king of marketing automation is Kajabi. With integrated tagging systems, email campaigns, and pipelines, it's made to make converting and keeping customers simple.
Learnyst provides out-of-the-box local marketing integrations (such as Razorpay + WhatsApp + GST invoicing) for educators in Asia or India, giving you complete control with less hassle.
Offers integrated community tools (Thinkific Communities) that let students create spaces and have conversations. Although it's getting better, it's not as vibrant as a community-focused platform.
Simple engagement tools include course-level feedback forms and comments under lectures. Not the best for creating student communities.
With the recent release of Kajabi Communities, creators can now create community spaces that resemble Slack. Excellent for membership interaction, coaching, and engagement.
To keep students motivated, Learnyst offers a gamified learning environment with XP points, discussion boards, leaderboards, and streak systems.
Offers student progress reports, course completion statistics, and basic analytics. It is possible to integrate with Google Analytics and other tools.
Revenue reports and comprehensive student progress tracking are available. The Pro plan is required to access advanced reports.
Without the use of third-party tools, Kajabi provides comprehensive insights, such as funnel performance, video watch time, opt-in rates, and more.
In addition to learner reports, Learnyst's analytics offer comprehensive test insights, revenue statistics, and push notification tracking, all of which are particularly helpful for educators who are data-driven.
Supports course locking, content drip, and SSL. Since there is no DRM or video encryption, there is a chance that premium content will be pirated.
Uses video hosted on Wistia with minimal security. Since there is no DRM, sharing or copying downloadable content is simple.
Comprises SSL, content gating, and fundamental security. But like others, Kajabi lacks strong anti-piracy features like DRM.
With DRM-encrypted video delivery, screen recording prevention, and restricted access even on mobile apps, Learnyst goes above and beyond, making it perfect for those who create paid courses and test-prep materials.
Community forums, email, and a knowledge base are all forms of support. There is no phone support available.
A creator community, live chat (for paid plans), and good onboarding resources.
Offers webinars, round-the-clock chat assistance, a comprehensive training library, and access to Kajabi University for learning about everything from creating courses to growing a digital business.
Learnyst has a dedicated support team to assist you in setting up your academy; there are no middlemen or ticket delays, and they offer regional support, onboarding advice, and video tutorials.
|
Platform |
Starting Price (USD/month) |
Transaction Fees |
|
Thinkific |
$36+ |
No |
|
Teachable |
$29+ |
7.5% Transaction fee |
|
Kajabi |
$71+ |
No |
|
Learnyst |
₹3,499/mo (~$40/mo) |
No |
Note: Pricing may vary by billing cycle. Visit official sites for updated plans:
If you’re an educator looking for a secure, branded, and affordable course platform—Learnyst is a game-changer.
Learnyst provides the ideal balance of cost, security, and scalability, whether you're starting your first course or switching from Teachable or Kajabi.
|
Platform |
Best For |
|
Thinkific |
teachers looking for a straightforward, free-start platform with strong curriculum features. |
|
Teachable |
Beginners who want fast setup and basic course delivery. |
|
Kajabi |
Business owners who want everything (site, course, marketing) under one roof. |
|
Learnyst |
Educators who want full control, video security, mobile apps, and local support. |
Because of its easy-to-use interface and speedy setup, Teachable is frequently the greatest option for novices. But Thinkific also provides new course creators with a free plan.
With DRM video protection, Learnyst stands out as the safest choice for stopping piracy, particularly for teachers who offer premium or test-prep content.
Learnyst provides the best value for budget-conscious creators with no transaction fees and branding, security, and marketing tools.